Freelance Android Developer

Note
This is the third article in a series on AutoValue. The first article introduced AutoValue, the code generating annotation processor for value types. The second took a more in depth look at the code generated by AutoValue, and the benefits of compile time code generation.

In a previous article introducing AutoValue, I briefly mentioned AutoValue Extensions. Now it’s time to go a bit more in depth to look at what extensions are, how they work, and how they can help you get even more out of AutoValue.

In my last article, I gave a basic introduction to AutoValue, the code generating annotation processor that makes immutable value types in Java easy. Now I’d like to take a bit of a deeper look at AutoValue and how it works.

Value Types in Java

There may be a shortage of love on the internet for AsyncTasks, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have their uses. I’ve found myself using them a fair bit in the latest project that I’m working on. All in all, they make offloading tasks from the main thread quite simple, but can pose some challenges, particularly in tested environments.

The biggest challenge with using AsyncTask in tested code is that, since the code runs asynchronously, it can be difficult to ensure your tests get the right result for verification. I have seen some solutions for getting around this dilemma, but they involve pretty significant changes to the structure of your app, and exposing some internal members, simply for the sake of the tests.